


Another Time, Another Place

by Miratete



Category: The Transformers (Cartoon Generation One), Transformers - All Media Types, Transformers Generation One
Genre: Bad Weather, Breeding, Domestic Fluff, M/M, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Post-War, Pregnancy, Reunion Sex, Reunions, Thunderstorms, Transformer Sparklings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-21
Updated: 2019-11-24
Packaged: 2021-02-18 11:17:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,479
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21510178
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Miratete/pseuds/Miratete
Summary: -o-o-o-o-o-Far into the future a tenuous peace comes to Cybertron in the form of a truce between the Decepticon Emperor and the Autobot Prime.  The remainders of the Cybertronian race do their best to rebuild and repopulate.  And in the midst of it all, a lonely Inferno longs for the marriage and family he'd always dreamed of having with Red Alert.-o-o-o-o-o-
Relationships: Inferno/Red Alert, Onslaught/Warpath, Silverbolt/Starscream
Comments: 4
Kudos: 35





	1. Chapter 1

-o-o-o-o-o-

No one expected the war to end, not after fourteen octads of fighting. More than nine million years had been spent in hostility and the shedding of transfluid. However, the truce that had formed between the two factions seemed to be a graspable lull in the hostilities if not a full peace, a respite smiled upon by the two opposing leaders. The fact that Argentius Prime and Emperor Starscream were sharing a berth made it all the more graspable.

The Cybertronians were returning to their homeworld and starting to rebuild. Every major city had suffered greatly, and along with them most of the smaller ones. And often before rebuilding or refurbishing could take place the old needed to be checked over. A team would be sent in to appraise an old structure, checking the soundness of the foundations and the frame above it. If those were in good shape, it would be turned over to the appropriate party. If it wasn't, it would be evaluated for worthwhile building materials that could be used in other construction. If there were no salvageable materials or the structure was found to be too dangerous to be left standing, it would be demolished.

That was where Inferno had found work for the new provisional government, as a building inspector along with a team of five other mechs. Their backgrounds had been perfect for this sort of job. He and Swingarm, a returned neutral, took care of the inspection and salvage estimates. I-Beam, a former Decepticon, knew salvageable materials when he saw them. Bonecrusher and Warpath were good at bringing down what wasn't to be left standing. The sixth member of the team was Jake—a Masterian-born mech with an extensive background in architectural restoration. His job was to lead the group and make the final call on the fate of the buildings they were assigned to. Despite his diminutive size he had a commanding presence and a natural charm.

They worked so well together, and there being six of them, they'd joked about being their own gestalt. “And don't get in our way,” laughed Bonecrusher. “Or we'll combine to form Renewalcus!”

“That's awful,” I-Beam groaned. But immediately the six began to joke about who would form which part of their imaginary giant, a being powerful enough to evict uncooperative empties, cut through red tape, and make Cybertron a better place, one modest three to five family dwelling at a time. Energon breaks were always a time of laughter and bonding. And sometimes a time of family as they sat about refueling and relaxing and receiving visitors.

“He's getting big, isn't he?” remarked Inferno to Warpath, watching as his coworker happily bounced the olive-green sparkling on his knees.

“He -Zam!- sure is. Well just look at his carrier,” the tank chuckled.

Inferno did, his optics turning to take in Onslaught's large frame. When Warpath had started hanging around the Combaticons a stellar-cycle into the Argentian Truce, it had been assumed that he and Brawl would become a thing. And it looked as if they were headed in that direction when friendship turned to courtship. Tanks were rare and had been for a long time, and the scientists were encouraging like-frametypes to hook up. But somewhere along the line the courtship went astray, and before anyone realized it the Combaticon leader had bedded and bonded the Autobot tank.

“He's going to be bigger than his sire, that's for sure,” said Onslaught. “And he'll have his carrier's good looks.” Onslaught struck a sexy pose, eliciting a smirk from Inferno.

“I'm sure he will,” laughed the red mech. It was hard to envision the big military-build mech as he'd once been, lording over the battlefield. It had been a shock to everyone when he'd put aside the war so easily. Strangely, domestic life suited him.

The sparkling's giggle suddenly ceased and his bright blue optics turned to Inferno. Regarding him intently for a moment, he suddenly began to flail his arms with a cry of “red!”

“That's right, Shellshock. -Zowie!- Inferno is red,” said Warpath delightedly. “He's going through his color-phase right now,” explained the tank proudly. “His optics hit that point half an orn ago.”

“Red! Want Red!” squawked the sparkling as he leaned against his sire's hands in Inferno's direction. Shellshock was one of the first born after the Argentian Truce, and had the distinction of being the first born of an Autobot/ Decepticon union.

“Would you humor him and hold him?” asked Warpath.

“I'd love to hold him,” Inferno smiled, reaching out.

Shellshock eagerly exchanged laps and soon stood pawing at Inferno's bright plating. “Red red red red red!” he chanted happily.

“You should have seen him with Sunlight the other day. He was all 'yellow yellow yellow!' chasing him around the playground while Sunlight kept shouting back 'battlegreen battlegreen battlegreen! It was funny. Sunlight's at the same point.”

Inferno laughed, envisioning the two sparklings at play. Sunstreaker's pretty child, only seven orns younger, had been the second to come of a cross-faction relationship. Everyone seemed to be hooking up and having sparklings these days... except him.

As if to confirm it, Onslaught suddenly said: “Mmm... I heard just this morning that Sandstorm and Octane are expecting.”

Warpath grimaced. “Only because Octane went into -Pow!- heat. They're not the parenting sort.”

Inferno sighed. “Seems like everyone's getting together and having babies though, doesn't it?”

“Cybertron's trying to rebuild. Ever since the truce everyone's going into heat. At least that's what the scientists say,” answered Onslaught in a sagely tone.

“It does seem that way, -Wham!- doesn't it? The day after the truce was signed the first energon spring began flowing. And now that all the old springs are -Whammo!- flowing it seems to be time to repopulate. Primus wants us to rebuild!”

Onslaught, noting the longing expression on Inferno's face, reached over and patted him on the arm. “Don't worry. At some point you'll go into heat and have a hundred mechs all over your grill wanting to help out. Or maybe you'll find someone that needs someone to care about them. There are a lot of expatriates returning these days, coming back to start over.”

Inferno forced a little smile. “Someday, maybe.” The problem was that he had found someone—someone smart and handsome and in need of a trustworthy friend and a patient lover. Red Alert was everything Inferno had ever wanted in a mate, and a post-war bonding had been promised. But the war that had brought them together had pulled them apart over time. Too many separations. Too much stress. After the death of Optimus Prime and the extinction of the human race, Red Alert had grown even more paranoid and difficult. He drifted away emotionally in his desperation to protect his faction and eventually, after a rather bitter confrontation, the pair broke up.

Shellshock calmed after having gorged himself visually on Inferno's plating, and he simply sat in Inferno's lap chirping happily as he looked up at the adults. Bonecrusher and Swingarm came back from the store with cubes of energon shortly, one for each of them, including two small ones for Jake and the happy sparkling. “And here... I got you this,” grinned the demolitionist at Shellshock. He held out a package containing a gelled energon treat. “It's silicon flavor... my favorite,” the Constructicon grinned.

“You're going to spoil him,” sighed Onslaught as Bonecrusher opened the package and pulled out the treat.

“Blue!” cried the sparkling as he took the pretty goodie and shoved one end into his little mouth.

“Yes! -Bam!- Blue,” said Warpath happily.

“Someone's gotta spoil him since you don't,” grinned Bonecrusher.

They drank their energon, and when they were finished, Onslaught rose. “I'll see you at home tonight,” he said with a fond smile as he dropped into his alt-mode.

Warpath picked up Shellshock and the untouched small cube of energon and stowed them into his mate's cab. “-Wow!- See you then. Keep the berth warm for me.”

Onslaught chuckled as he closed the cab door and drove off.

“So, back to work,” said Inferno, hiding his jealousy beneath a layer of business.

“Back to work!” replied Bonecrusher with far more enthusiasm.

-o-o-o-o-o-

The new weather on Cybertron was something that was taking some getting used to. The shared atmosphere with Earth had changed things for the Cybertronians and Cybertron itself. And tonight was one of those getting-used-to-nights. The atmospheric chain between the two planets tended to generate huge storms and one such had descended upon New Tarn. Inferno had closed up his house tight against the wind but it failed to completely shut out the storm's effects. The shutters rattled and the solar collectors howled as the gale blew against and through them. At one point there was a terrible crash from the roof and he was sure one of the solar panels had been torn loose. Even louder than the crash were the peals of thunder. A broadcast tower, not far away, was being struck at least once a klik. But so far the rain had held off, for which he was grateful. The last storm had flooded several low-lying areas. The previous storm to that had spat out hailstones that hit with force enough to dent thinner plating and break lighter glass.

And in the midst of this storm as Inferno was going through his work roster for the next orn, the doorchime sounded.

He straightened up at his console, wondering who would be out in these difficult conditions. When it stormed like this the Enforcers insisted that everyone stay inside or underground. Hopefully it wasn't a neighbor in trouble. During the flooding episode he'd spent the night helping move mechs to higher ground in case the nearby river overflowed its banks.

Inferno switched the monitor's display to the household camera system and called up the feed from the doorwell.

His mouth fell open on seeing the identity of his visitor. Without even thinking his hand went to the intercom key. “Red?”

Red Alert looked up at the camera. “Inferno? Is that you? Did I get the right house?”

“Red, it's me! Wait there.” Inferno practically ran from his desk to the front door and flung it open. “Red! What are you doing here?”

The dripping wet mech standing there stared back with a look of embarrassment on his face. “Inferno...?”

“Red? What are you doing here? What are you doing out in this weather? And... and you're here,” he said, and then realized how stupid he must be sounding.

The other mech's optics flickered. “I... well... ah, could we talk?”

“Talk?”

“Yes... please? I know this is rather a surprise... I just couldn't bring myself to contact you first.” Red Alert sounded so timid and unsure. “Look, if this is a bad time, I can go. I'll try to get in touch another way or...” His head turned and he looked back out at the rain.

“Red, come in,” said Inferno, finding some confidence and stepping to the side.

The smaller mech looked in, took the few steps to the threshold, and hesitated. Inferno could feel a warmth radiating from him as if he'd been basking in the sun instead of driving through the windstorm. Had he driven that hard to get here? And then he walked on in to the entry hall with a bolder step as if he'd made up his mind.

“Let's go into the parlor,” said Inferno, pushing past him to lead the way.

-o-o-o-o-o-

Sitting on Inferno's two opposing couches, the two mechs kept glancing uncomfortably at each other as they tried to make small talk. At least some of the awkwardness was avoided by the fact that they could discuss the storm. And though neither would broach the subject, it was soon quite obvious to Inferno that he'd not been mistaken as to Red's warmth. The mech was in heat. Red Alert kept squirming as he sat as if he needed to be elsewhere or doing something else. The deeper color of his optics combined with the frequent venting and the “sizing-up” stares all made it quite obvious.

Inferno so wanted to ask, but he held back. If he remembered anything about Red, it was that he was a very private person regarding his private life. And if he was indeed in heat, there was a good chance that his sudden and unexpected visit was related. For a moment Inferno's hopes rose, and were immediately sunk by the history between them. Red Alert would never come back to him after what had happened.

But then why had he come? Red Alert was living on Earth last he'd heard. It wasn't a convenient journey for most. And even if it was, why would he want to reconnect with Inferno after all this time? Had he gotten into some kind of trouble? Had his heat gotten him into some kind of trouble? Was this a faction related visit? Were Inferno's skills needed on Earth?

“So where are you living now?” Inferno asked casually.

“Los Angeles. It's quite nice there again and very convenient now that Paradronians have put in their transportation network.”

“So I've heard.” What had once been the continent of North America was now known as New Paradron, but many of the ancient place names had remained.

“So what brings you to Cybertron?” Inferno asked. It was time to start narrowing in the questions since Red Alert hadn't come out with his reason for visiting yet.

“I was here on Cybertron for business and then... I thought I might look you up.”

“After all this time?”

“Yeah.”

Red Alert said nothing else, and moved to the unshuttered windows to look out at the storm before the awkwardness grew too oppressive. These windows overlooked the garden on the leeward side of the building and so were safe from the wind and whatever it might carry, making shutters unnecessary.

“Red? There isn't any other reason, is there?”

The glow in Red Alert's optics became a glare, and things would have suddenly gone from awkward to uncomfortable had not a huge peal and crash of thunder shaken the house, painfully white light filling the room for an astrosecond. Startled, Red Alert leapt back from the windows, sensor horns flaring, and would have stumbled over the convenience table had not Inferno jumped up and caught him before he could fall. Inferno set him back onto his feet but held on a little longer than necessary.

“Thank you,” said Red Alert as he re-stabilized, his gyros recalibrating.

“Red, you're running hot,” Inferno said soberly. “Unusually hot.”

“It's nothing.”

“It's the heat, isn't it?” Inferno dared.

Red Alert tensed and then turned away. “Maybe. Nothing to worry about.”

“Red?”

The smaller mech's whole frame slumped. “It is. I got here, to Cybertron, and it just hit. It happens to the Paradronians sometimes too. My company jokes about it when they send us here—one in five comes back... well...”

“So then why did you come here? To my home?” Inferno asked in a tone that somehow sounded both accusing and victimized at the same time. “Why didn't you just return to Earth?”

Red Alert sighed and sat down again. His optics drifted back to the window.

“Red?”

“I know how important it is to build up the population again. This war has all but extincted us, and none of us are putting much faith in the truce lasting. There have been truces before and none of them lasted. Yes, the influx of Paradronians to Earth helped considerably as well as those from some of the other colonies. But we're still threatened.” He moved to the window. “After Wormwood... I know they betrayed us, but watching the humans die out was terrifying, and I'd hate to see that happen to us. Look how many sub-species of our race have been lost already.”

“So you were hoping I'd spark you, so that you could do your part.”

Red Alert's head hung shamefully. “Yes,” he answered quietly. “I always thought of you as a good sire material, and you always talked about how you wanted to be a parent someday.” He looked up hopefully. “Do you still?”

Inferno's processors fumbled a while before focusing on an answer. “Yes. I do. I do want to very much.”

“So you would spark me?” Red Alert asked, his tone rising in excitement.

“No.”

“No? What? You just said...”

“I know what I just said, Red.” Inferno rose from his couch and began pacing. “I know what I said, and I know how I used to feel. Back then I wanted nothing more than for you to go into heat and to make good on my word to start a family with you. But now...” He sighed and went to the energon cabinet, fishing out a couple of cubes for them. “No... I'm not about to spark you and then let you just walk out of here, taking my child away, never to know the bitlet, never to see you again.” He set one of the cubes down in front of Red Alert and sat heavily back onto his couch. His optics focused hard on the other mech. “You broke my heart once. I'm not letting it happen again. So if you thought you could use me like that, I'm sorry. You'll have to find someone else. Plenty of mechs out there would be happy to get you sparked and leave it at that.”

“'Fern... don't say that!” Red Alert gasped.

“I'm just being honest. Want Sideswipe's comm' frequency? I've got it. He always wanted you,” Inferno hissed bitterly.

Red Alert looked both startled and hurt. But then he composed himself. “'Fern, there's more. Would you be willing to listen to me?”

Inferno huffed. “I suppose. I can't exactly turn you back out into that storm.”

Red Alert broke the seal on the cube of energon he'd been given and took a few swallows. “'Fern... I remember how you once felt about this, and I've been thinking about it a lot since long before this...” He gestured roughly at the lower half of his body. “...before this happened. Several vorns. I've just been too busy or too embarrassed or too anxious to get back in touch with you. This only made it necessary for me to stop thinking about it and act upon it.”

“You've been thinking about me?”

“Yes. For a while.”

“When you left you said you never wanted to see me again. You even threatened to call a mnemosurgeon,” Inferno reminded him.

“Yes, and a lot of time has passed since then, 'Fern.”

“It has,” he agreed.

“I realized what went wrong between us. What went wrong and why it went wrong.”

Inferno lifted his head. “And?”

“I want to apologize for the way I acted, and hopefully you'll forgive me. Even if you won't spark me, I still want to apologize.”

“You said you'd never forget it,” Inferno said bitterly. “So I wondered about the mnemosurgeon thing.”

“I know. And I haven't. But I understand differently now. What happened was mostly my fault, and I reacted very badly in a bad situation. And right now I just want you to know how I feel and that I mean this with all my spark. And it's not just because I'm in heat right now.” Tears began to pool in his optics. “You loved me so much, and right now all I can think about is how good things were when we were together. I keep hoping you'll forgive me and take me back and now that I'm viable, that we can start that family we always talked about. Half a dozen sparklings and a house with a big yard for them to roll around in. Do you remember?”

Inferno found his own optics filling with tears. “Of course I remember. I remember how we used to lie there together in the darkness after a good 'face, you and I joking about what we'd name our offspring. Those were wonderful times.”

“They were.”

Inferno's pacing ceased and he sat down next to Red Alert. “But would you be able to forgive me though? For what I did?”

“Inferno, I forgave you long ago when I realized why you'd done it.”

The big red mech looked on in surprise, and then he hung his head guiltily. Their breakup really had brought out the worst in them. “I still regret it.”

Red Alert daringly took Inferno's hand. “Don't.”

For what seemed like breems they sat holding hands while the storm continued to pound the west-side wall of the house and the thunder continued to rumble.

Red Alert, unable to sit silently any longer, placed his hand onto Inferno's shoulder. “Would you be willing to try again?” he asked. “I'm willing to stay with you. To leave Earth and come back here to Cybertron, to stay with you.” His field pulsed with need.

“You mean it? You'd stay?”

“I'll miss my house and my work on Earth, but if it means being with you again, I will. I just have to know soon.”

“Because of the heat cycle...”

“If you don't trust me because of it I'll get it suppressed. I've not hit the second phase yet so it's not too late to stop it.”

Inferno's thoughts swam in a mire of emotion, having the hardest time disentangling themselves from memories and desires. The fact that Red Alert was more beautiful than he remembered and was right now so very willing was not helping at all.

And beneath it all he knew that whichever road he took, that choice would be permanent. There would be no going back once the course was set.

-o-o-o-o-o-


	2. Chapter 2

-o-o-o-o-o-

The wind did not calm, even as the rain became torrential, and right now the combined force of the two was roaring wave after wave of wet static upon the eastern wall and roof. The thunder continued to rumble, though the house was no longer directly beneath the lightning's fury. That part of the storm had peaked as Inferno had led Red Alert into his berth and pressed their frames together for the first time in a half a millevorn. And despite so much time having passed they both remembered their old dance as if had been only orns spent apart.

Four rounds of interfacing had worn them into a most pleasant exhaustion. The first had been frantic and desperate and awkward. The second had been pure passion. The third had been loving and joyous. The fourth had been intimate. Now, relaxed and sated, the two cuddled together in the warmth of the berth listening to the weather howling outside. And as they always had in bygone days, the two lay with the larger wrapped about the smaller in a loving embrace. 

“'Fern, why did I ever leave you?” Red Alert purred into his mate's neck.

“It might have had something to do with me having gone astray with Hot Spot,” he suggested.

Red Alert sighed guiltily. “I forgive you for that.”

“You didn't back then.”

“I was wrong then. I was so wrong about our relationship. I was so caught up and troubled by the war and what was happening on Cybertron at the time that I couldn't see what was going on in my own life. I never realized how much I'd been neglecting you. And Hot Spot was there trying to help, loving and caring... and rather handsome too.” Red Alert sat up and looked down at the big red mech. “Inferno, I can't blame you for what you did. I meant it when I said that I've already forgiven you.”

“Really? You really mean it?” he asked, tears coming to his optics. He'd not been completely sure before. Heat-addled mechs would say anything to get someone to spark them, and he'd been willing to take the chance that Red Alert was sincere about remaining together. And if he wasn't, perhaps at least Red Alert would feel intimidated by the challenge of parenthood and give him the sparkling to raise.

“Really. I do. I should have realized that something was wrong with us when that happened. You'd always been so good to me, and loyal to a fault. But I didn't.”

Inferno smiled through his tears of joy. “Let's not talk about that. The past is the past and mistakes were made. Right now it's time to think about the future.” His hand reached up and spread open across Red Alert's abdomen, their fields prickling excitedly at the touch and what it implied. “It's going to be quite a future ahead of us.”

Red Alert fell upon Inferno, kissing him with uncharacteristic abandon. And when the kisses calmed, he lay once more in Inferno's embrace, sighing happily. Messages kept coming in from his body that everything was progressing normally for sparking. “I hope that Argentius Prime and Starscream stay together,” he said thoughtfully. “That's where our future lies. As long as those two are on good terms, the peace will continue.”

“So true,”said Inferno, bending forward to bestow kisses upon his mate's helm and shoulders.

A loud snap suddenly sounded from the roof, followed by another. Then came a sharp clang from the shutters on the west side of the room. “Hail?” Red Alert asked. Three more thuds followed from the roof.

“Sounds like it,” was Inferno's response, barely lifting his mouth off Red Alert's plating long enough to speak.

More thuds came, growing more frequent and louder, and within two kliks the noise from the roof and shutters became a roar as the storm unleashed a wave of its frozen cargo. And while Red Alert was worried by the deafening sound, Inferno was used to it and he carried on, lost in a world of bliss. By the time the hail gave way to torrents of rain once more, he was buried deep inside of Red Alert again, the pounding of the storm drowning out their sighs and shudderings of ecstasy.

-o-o-o-o-o-

“So...” began Bonecrusher three afternoons later as the four of them sat refueling. “What happened during that storm?” he asked Inferno. Swingarm was looking at him as well with a funny smirk on his faceplate.

“Oh, not much. Lost one of my solar collectors. A downspout fell too. Nothing I can't fix. The hail took out every single rose on my bushes though. It'll be a decacycle or two before more are blooming,” he sighed. “Lost a couple tree branches, but nothing major.”

Warpath chuckled, not accepting that for an answer. “And that's the -Wham!- reason you've been floating about like a mechling with his first adult -Pow!- upgrades?”

“Yeah, Inferno,” chimed in Swingarm.

“Floating? I haven't been floating about. Okay. I've been thinking a lot about stuff today.”

“You have,” said Bonecrusher. “You hardly notice when we talk to you. And we're pretty sure it's not about home repairs or your garden.”

Inferno suddenly looked rather embarrassed. “Ah, well. I got in touch with an old friend.”

“In touch? This must have been some friend,” answered Bonecrusher.

“-Zow!- C'mon Inferno. Tell us,” cajoled Warpath.

Inferno looked at his three coworkers a moment, and then broke into a grin. “Red Alert showed up in the middle of that storm. We're getting back together.”

“That's -Blam!- wonderful!” exclaimed Warpath.

“Who's Red Alert?” asked Bonecrusher and Swingarm simultaneously.

Warpath filled in the other two.

Inferno smiled. “And it's not just getting back together. In fact...” He could no longer contain his excitement. “I'm going to be a father.”

“What!”

“Red was in heat. He'd been thinking about getting back together, but suddenly he had a really good reason to. That's why it was so sudden, and during such horrible weather. He drove through that storm all the way from Port Kaon to get here.”

“Oh goodness! He -Whump!- was serious about you then.”

Bonecrusher reached over and took Inferno's hand. “Well congratulations. I wish you the best.” The Constructicon could be such a nice guy when he had plenty of condemned buildings to unleash his destructive tendencies upon.

“-Zowie!- That's great! Maybe you won't get so mopey and lonely after every time Onslaught shows up with Shellshock.”

“I won't be so jealous of you two now,” he said. “I'll have a family of my own.”

“That's wonderful,” said Swingarm, patting Inferno on the shoulder. “We're all so happy for you.”

-o-o-o-o-o-

After his assignment on Cybertron was done, Red Alert went back to Earth to settle things—a long process of selling his house, training his replacement at his job, and taking care of closing up his life there. By the time he was finally finished and boarding the commercial shuttle to Cybertron, he was wondering if he'd have to pay for transport for two. His midsection had puffed out to accommodate the sparkling growing inside of him, and he for once envied the larger builds who carried without any sort of distortion. Onslaught's pregnancy hadn't shown in the least. Omega Supreme had popped out a sparkling as big as a full-size mech without anyone even knowing he'd even been carrying. The rumor-mill had it that Argentius was carrying a trine, but he remained as sleek and powerful looking as ever. 

The shuttle steward graciously found a larger seat for him, and the Paradronian femme next to him was thrilled to be next to a carrier. “I keep hoping the same thing happens to me, but after five trips to Cybertron with nothing happening, I think Primus has just decided to ignore me for a bit,” she sighed. Later, she asked quietly if she could put her hands on Red Alert's distended belly and feel the bitlet's field. “Maybe that might encourage me to go into heat. What are you naming him?”

“Firestorm... it's a name in both my family and his sire's family.”

“That's wonderful,” the femme cooed. And just then, as if at the sound of his name, the unborn sparkling shifted inside Red Alert's gestation chamber, eliciting a groan from Red Alert and a cry of delight from the Paradronian. “You're so lucky,” she sighed enviously.

-o-o-o-o-o-

When the shuttle landed after the nine-cycle flight from Earth to Cybertron, Inferno was there at the spaceport, a bouquet of flowers from his garden in his arms and a huge box of energon treats hooked over his elbow. Red Alert had expected some awkwardness when his mate saw how much his figure had changed—just the awkwardness of their whole situation was a bit unsettling. But there was nothing but love and excitement and open arms waiting for him. And he was very glad of that welcome when he realized how many of the other faces he recognized among the other mechs awaiting the shuttle on the tarmac. Warpath was there, along with Inferno's sister Firestar, more gifts in her arms. Next to Warpath stood Onslaught and a sparkling that had to be Shellshock, half-hanging from his carrier's hand, half standing on still-wobbly feet. Behind them stood another Combaticon, Blast Off, along with Grapple, Hoist, Swingarm, and Bonecrusher.

“Did everyone come out to meet me?” he asked, smothered by his bondmate's arm and assailed by his kisses.

“Not quite, but several of us did. Something of a welcome party. Well, Blast Off's just here for transport, but everyone else wanted to see you. And there are more waiting at home. I hope you got some rest on the shuttle,” Inferno grinned.

“Thankfully I slept most of the way,” Red Alert answered.

“Good, because I don't think you'll be getting a chance to recharge for a while. Just wait until you see the surprise waiting for you at home.”

-o-o-o-o-o-

Blast Off touched down in the street outside of Inferno's house, only the house looked different now. There was a large add-on to the west side. “It's bigger, isn't it?” Red Alert asked.

“Almost twice as big.”

“You said you were just going to do a little remodeling...”

Inferno, who hadn't stopped smiling since the shuttle from Earth had touched down, gave his mate another hug. “Okay, Grapple got a bit carried away.”

“Oh, but it's so much better this way,” assured the yellow mech. “You and your family will love it!”

Inside, Red found the parlor had been stretched across the width of the house with full windows that looked out over the East side garden. A staircase took up the back wall. In the center of the large room, a table was laid out with gifts for the new sparkling as well as a great many cubes of high-grade. Above the table hung a huge banner reading “Happy Homecoming Red Alert and Firestorm.” Other mechs he recognized were there as well.

Red Alert brought his hands up clasping them over his chest. “Oh my goodness. Oh Primus!”

“Darling, you're crying,” grinned Inferno, pulling his mate in closely.

“I... I don't deserve this... I don't deserve anything like this.”

Inferno kissed Red Alert on the top of his helm. “Who cares what you deserve. This is what you're getting, my love.”

-o-o-o-o-o-

There had been rumors since the very beginning of the truce, rumors that had begun almost the very moment Argentius Prime and Emperor Starscream had stepped from the council chamber on Athenia, Starscream holding up the metal plate with their glyphs inscribed upon it, the two announcing a full-on truce. Argentius held up Starscream's other hand in a gesture of trust and unity. But after the plaque and their arms were lowered, the hands remained together.

“They're both Vosian. Vosians touch a lot,” someone had commented.

Many meta-cycles later the two Vosians were still touching a lot.

And then Skywarp openly began dating Slingshot. Half a vorn later the five Aerialbots moved into the private residence tower the Emperor shared with his trine.

Less than a vorn after the truce had been signed, Argentius and Starscream made their relationship public by appearing together in front of the senate, grasping hands, and announcing to everyone gathered and Cybertron as a whole that the mutual cooperation of the factions had lead to a personal cooperation. Most everyone was sure though that they'd been cooperating very well before the truce had been signed and that their relationship was well established before the peace-talks had even begun.

And now in the morning's news releases, it had been announced that Starscream was carrying Argentius's child. There were pictures of the pair sitting together, the prime's arm draped affectionately around the smaller jet's shoulders.

“This is wonderful,” said Inferno. “If they're having sparklings together, there's a chance that this peace will be more than just a respite from the war. It might be the end of it completely.”

Red Alert sighed. “I wish I could believe that. There have been truces before. There have been cease-fires before.”

Inferno took his mate's hand. “You're worrying again. Everything will be fine.”

“But what if it isn't?”

Inferno stood and drew Red Alert away from the table. “Come with me. I want to show you something.”

“Show me what?”

“Just come.”

At the side door of the house, Inferno put his hand on the lockpad, and then turned to Red Alert. “Now close your eyes, and don't open them until I tell you to.”

“Why?”

“Just do it.”

Putting his faith in his mate, Red Alert switched off his optics and followed indulgently as Inferno led him into the garden and sat him carefully upon one of the benches. He heard a rustle in one of the bushes nearby, and then he felt Inferno sit next to him.

“Don't online your optics yet. I want you to remember back to before the mission to Earth, what Cybertron looked like...”

“It was desolate. Struggling. A mess.”

“And what it looked like after we woke up six octads later?”

Red Alert choked a tiny sob. “Dead. Barren. Hopeless?” He felt Inferno take his hand and place something into it.

“Now open your optics and look around you.”

Red Alert looked and saw the now familiar garden Inferno had worked so hard to cultivate. And beyond the garden he could see the distant towers of New Tarn's central district, half of them under construction.

“It's nothing like what it once was, is it?”

“Nothing. It's green. It's alive.” In his hand was a beautiful flower of waxy pink petals and a bright yellow center.

“This flower... I grew it here. I grew it on Cybertron.” His own hand supported Red's. “Not even in the Golden Age could we grow plants like this here.”

“No... except in a few special greenhouses, with those hot lights...”

“And now think of Earth... after the Wormwood incident. What was it like?”

“It was... It was awful. The desolation.” They all too clearly remembered visiting Earth after the meteor swarm had finished its assault on the fragile planet, when the planet lay in ruins, its atmosphere and surface and everything battered and contaminated to near non-recognition. The humans that remained died out in the global winter that followed. The few that had escaped the planet were scattered to the stars only to succumb to hardship and loss.

“And now?”

“It's... it's beautiful again.”

“And we've lived through both the war and the near-destruction of Earth. No matter what happens, we will go on.” Inferno put his hand on Red Alert's midsection. Hoist expected the security officer would be birthing within the next orn. “And we'll have our baby with us,” he smiled.

Red Alert looked up at his mate. “You're so confident.”

“I am confident,” he said, nuzzling his faceplate against the side of Red Alert's helm. “I would have done this with you, truce or not.”

“You mean it?”

Inferno turned his face in toward him to kiss him tenderly. “I always wanted to. I know we talked about 'after the war,' but if you'd gone into heat back when, I would have done exactly the same thing.” And then Inferno took the flower from Red Alert's hand and placed it between his beloved's helm and sensor horn.

“And eventually I would have been convinced to agree with you.” He looked up into Inferno's optics and kissed him again.

“Red...” Inferno whispered. “Thank you.”

“No... thank you, 'Fern... thank you for being so patient and understanding. You always were and I never appreciated it. I really don't deserve you.”

Inferno pulled Red Alert against him, kissing his helm. He could barely smell the flower perched so closely—while beautiful they weren't the perfumed wonders his roses were. But he was sure the Red Alert could catch every nuance of what scent they had with his impressive olfactory suite. “I told you before, who cares what you deserve. This is what you're getting.”

-o-o-o-o-o-  
-o-o-o-  
-o-

The End

-o-  
-o-o-o-  
-o-o-o-o-o-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this story comes from the 1988 movie "Alien from L.A.", a strange little sci-fi/adventure film built on a Hollow Earth premise. At one point the pretty protagonist is rescued from a thug by a cocky stranger, who introduces himself as "Charmin', as in style, good looks, and panache." He seems to know that she's about to ask for his help, he responds that he's busy, but assures her that "there will be another time, another place." At the very end of the movie, Charmin' appears before her and introduces himself to her again as "a stranger around here, from another time, another place" Ironically, it's also the movie that introduced the concept of "Dull Surprise" to the Transformers fandom. 
> 
> Check out Dull Surprise here: https://tfwiki.net/wiki/Dull_surprise
> 
> I don't go into detail on it, but the "Wormwood Incident" that is alluded to, that which killed off the human race, comes from the book of Revelation in the Bible. In this prophecy of the end of life as we know it, a good amount of God's wrath unleashed upon the Earth comes in the form of a series of heavenly bodies crashing into the planet and all but destroying it's fragile little ecosystem. And it has happened before.
> 
> Check out the events of TEOTWAWKI (the end of the world as we know it): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_Revelation#Outline  
> When it happened before on Jupiter: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comet_Shoemaker%E2%80%93Levy_9  
> When it happened before on this planet: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicxulub_impactor


End file.
